Gifted School Activities With DropTalk, Parent-Teacher Notebook, and SmileNote for Students With Disabilities

Three programs, DropTalk, Parent-Teacher Notebook, and SmileNote, were developed by teachers at schools for special needs education to help students with various disabilities, in collaboration with businesses supportive of students with disabilities. DropTalk was developed to help students with nonverbal communication by using Pictogram and text overlaid with voice/sound. A digital-based Parent-Teacher Notebook was developed to share the valuable data on each student between their home and school. The shared data are effectively used to build up individual support plans. SmileNote was developed to help students with nonverbal communication disabilities present their wills, hopes, and desires to the classmates and others. In this chapter, the aims and valuable functions in three software applications are described in detail, and self-made contents created with the software and gifted school activities conducted at several schools for special needs education are depicted.

Direct participation of people with communication disabilities in research on poverty and disabilities in low and middle income countries: A critical review

Introduction An estimated 1 billion people with disabilities live in low and middle income countries, a population that includes people with communication disabilities (PwCD). PwCD are a heterogenous group with a wide range of abilities who may be underrepresented in research due to the communication demands involved in research participation. Methods A critical analysis of 145 studies from a previously published systematic review was undertaken with the aim of documenting the opportunities for direct participation of PwCD in research on poverty and disability in low- and middle- income countries. Results The key finding was the high risk of underrepresentation of PwCD in research on poverty and disability in LMICs, despite low rates of explicit exclusion (n = 8; 5.5%). A total of 366 uses of data collection tools were analysed (255 unique tools). The majority of data collection tools had high communication demands (92.9%), including those measuring disability (88.6%) and those assessing poverty (100%). Only 22 studies (15.2%) specifically included PwCD. A subset of these studies (n = 14) presented disaggregated data in a way that allowed for analysis of outcomes for PwCD, suggesting a clear intersection between poverty and communication disability, with findings related to general poverty indicators, reduced access to education, low levels of employment, and additional expenditure. Conclusions The findings suggest a systematic underrepresentation of PwCD in research on poverty and disability with substantial implications for future policy and program planning, directly affecting the availability and provision of services and resources for this population. A failure to provide adequate opportunity for participation of PwCD in research risks leaving those with communication disabilities behind in the pursuit of global poverty eradication.

Non-Invasive Brain–Computer Interfaces: Development and Rehabilitation for Motor Disability

Around 61 million people in the United States suffer from different forms of disability; of these, 13.7% suffer from a motor disability. Research in brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) has focused on curbing communication disabilities due to motor impairment. Many challenges and future developments lie ahead in the BCI world. The research on paradigms that guide the way to make communication easy for a person with motor impairment is the pillar of the BCI system. The purpose of this paper is to synthesize the developments in non-invasive brain–computer interface and evaluate them. The authors discuss components of the BCI system and how it is formed. Neurofeedback based on different modalities is also analyzed. The results from initial studies have been successful, but paradigms and neurofeedback technologies have immense development potential, which can change the face of BCI systems for rehabilitation of motor disability.

Assessment of quality of life in patients with aphasia

Introduction: Personal satisfaction (Quality of Life; QoL) is the person's impression of their own prosperity. Aphasia is the most significant likely result of stroke and profoundly affects a patient's life, causing enthusiastic pain, sadness, and social separation, because of loss of language capacities. Objective: To document personal satisfaction in patients with aphasia. Materials & Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted at a Speech Clinic from October 2018 to March 2019 on 57 patients of aphasia to assess their quality of life. Informed consent was taken from respondents. Patients having aphasia due to any neurological cause or traumatic brain injury were included in study, while patients having childhood aphasia were excluded. Standardized questionnaire “Measuring changes in Quality of life in persons with aphasia: Is Communication Confidence a good measure?” was used to obtain information from participants through purposive sampling. Data were collected by face to face interviews with patients and their caregivers. Descriptive data analysis was done through SPSS. Results: Majority (68.42%) of respondents did not feel confident about their ability to convey meaning via speech with people. Difficulties in social communication were also a reason of concern for 45.61% participants, whereas 50.87% participants stated that they could not make their decisions. Conclusion: Patients suffering from aphasia had low quality of life, mainly due to their communication disabilities and dependence on other people for understanding, as well as the fact that their caretakers had to take decisions for them.

Exploring the usability of the andragogical process model for learning for designing, delivering and evaluating a workplace communication partner training

Purpose This study aims to explore the usability of the andragogical process model for learning to develop, deliver and evaluate training to improve communication between adapted transport drivers and people living with communication disabilities and to identify the successes and limitations of the model in this context. Design/methodology/approach Two aspects were considered to explore the usability of the andragogical process model for learning: a comparison between the elements of the model and the designing, delivering and evaluating processes of the training; and an appreciation evaluation. Findings The model was useful to systematically design, deliver and evaluate workplace training that was appreciated by the learners, even though most of the model’s elements were modified to meet the constraints of the trainer and the organization. Assessing the needs for learning, establishing a human climate conducive to learning and choosing appropriate training methods emerged as key elements that contributed to a successful appreciation of this training. Originality/value This study is one of the few that examines the possibility of a systematic application of the andragogical process model for learning to workplace training. Its results suggest that the model could be considered for application by non-professional trainers or external trainers from a workplace, but that organizational constraints must be considered when using it.

Teaching Communication Strategies to Students with Communication Disabilities

Many communication scholars and researchers agree that students with oral communication disabilities should be trained to be effective communicators. Effective communication strategies need to be taught to those students to improve their communication skills. They further agree that if students are not taught effective communication strategies, they will rely on the strategies that do not work well, such as borrowing from language and avoidance strategies. Therefore, the author developed a way for teaching communication strategies to students with oral communication disabilities. The challenge of actively involving students with communication disorders in the formal education systems prompted this desktop study on some of the challenges and problems associated with students with communication disorders in the classroom. This paper examines the relationship between communication disorders and learning from a very basic and simplified perspective. The intention is not to get deep into the jargon of disability studies but to assist teachers in understanding students with communication disorders so that they also actively engage them in their teaching approaches. As such, the paper does not claim to be a professional and expert point of reference. It is derived from and built on a simple desktop literature study and document analysis. The paper's thrust is to ensure that students with communication disorders are fully and actively involved in their classroom learning activities. It says that teaching and learning are two sides of the same coin. We thus conclude that when people talk about teachers’ effectiveness, they are talking about actual student learning.